Chapter 148: Gathering 2
Then they sent out the thirty or so remaining Land Battle Leos, more than twenty artillery-type Tragos, and over a dozen aerial Aries, all rushing toward Tolle.
As soon as they launched, they began a relentless bombardment of the Tallgeese Gundam Tolle was piloting, firing rifles, cannons, machine guns, and missiles without pause.
The barrage was so dense that even with Tolle's heightened concentration, he couldn't dodge them all. Most of the attacks ended up landing directly on the Gundam.
Fortunately, they were all using live ammunition. With the PS Armor, Tolle had no problem resisting.
Otherwise, if it were only relying on Gundanium Alloy, facing such a concentrated assault, it probably would have already reached its breaking point.
Seeing their numbers, Tolle felt he had underestimated things. He should have outfitted the Tallgeese Gundam with some additional weaponry before coming.
Even just one high-powered beam cannon would have done. Without it, facing such overwhelming forces, he'd definitely end up surrounded.
But he could only grit his teeth and push forward—otherwise, he'd be letting down the Gundam's name.
Besides, he couldn't expose the existence of his neo DG Cells, or recklessly display the equipment's rapid-change functions. Otherwise, what would be the point of this training?
After all, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and Chang Wufei had each managed to destroy a base singlehandedly—so he should be able to as well.
Tolle hung the Tallgeese Gundam's shield on its shoulder, took a beam rifle in his left hand and a beam saber in his right, and charged straight into the Earth Sphere Unified Army's mobile suits.
He went for the long-range artillery Tragos first, firing his beam rifle in bursts during the charge and taking out four in quick succession.
Closing in on his targets threw their formation into chaos, some Leos even firing at their own allies by mistake.
Tolle paid their confusion no mind. With his beam saber, he slashed down the Tragos around him, cutting them cleanly in half one by one.
In less than five minutes, all the Tragos had been annihilated.
With the greatest threat eliminated, Tolle breathed easier. Now he could take his time dismantling the rest of the mobile suits.
After all, the Tragos' twin shoulder cannons had some serious power. If hit in succession, the combined impact and heat were more than even PS Armor could handle.
For the time being, Tolle leisurely practiced evasive maneuvers—dodging while firing—gradually wiping out the Leos on the ground.
It had been a long time since he last played with Gundam. This time, he intended to enjoy at least a full half hour.
And he couldn't show off too much strength. Otherwise, if the enemy bolted at the mere sight of him next time, where would be the fun?
After destroying more than twenty Leos, Tolle began to find the Aries in the sky irritating. Somehow, they still hadn't run out of missiles and kept spamming them at him.
He piloted the Tallgeese Gundam into the air, rushing at the Aries. This time he didn't even bother with the beam rifle—just relied on his beam saber, cutting them down one by one while weaving through the air.
Practicing close-quarters combat in midair, it took him another ten minutes or so to finish them all off.
By then, the few Leos left on the ground had scattered, trying to flee. Tolle shook his head helplessly. "It hasn't even been half an hour, and you're already retreating?"
But he wasn't a bloodthirsty man. If they dared disobey orders just to escape, then let them go.
He'd had his fun anyway. Tolle drove the Tallgeese Gundam straight into the sea, heading back toward the underwater base.
Back at the base, Tolle mulled things over. The Zeta Gundam was still lacking—its firepower wasn't enough. Aside from transformation, it wasn't much stronger than the Tallgeese Gundam.
Among atmospheric-transforming MAs he remembered, there were:
UC series: Zeta Gundam, Methuss, Re-GZ, Delta Gundam.
Wing series: Wing Gundam, Wing Zero.
SEED series: Savior Gundam, Murasame.
00 series: Nadleeh, Seraphim Gundam.
Of those, the best in firepower were Wing Gundam, Wing Zero, and Savior Gundam.
The Wing Gundams were off the table, and the 00 series was beyond his current technical ability. The most ideal option left was the Savior Gundam.
Lately, he had developed something of a firepower complex—now specializing in all-out volleys and full-burst attacks.
So, a suit with plenty of mounted weapons fit him best—and that meant the Savior Gundam.
But that would overlap with Athrun. Maybe he should try building the Savior Gundam version from the MSV line.
With that thought, Tolle decided to have Nami modify the Tallgeese Gundam according to his memories of the Savior Gundam.
After assigning the refit task, he left the hangar. Immediately, Ange, Zola, and the others surrounded him, with only Sophia standing off to the side, watching with interest.
Arms folded, Ange wore a sour expression and asked in a sarcastic tone:
"So, our great master, you finally came back after having your fun?
You brought us here just to keep some eye-candy soldiers around, right? Don't you think you owe us an explanation about this world—and your plans?"
Tolle was caught off guard by Ange's blunt question, at a loss for how to respond. At that moment, Zola stepped forward, holding Ange in her arms, and said:
"I've been resting for so long that I'm itching for some action too. Master, I want to fight by your side.
Don't go off to battle alone. We're already a team, aren't we? What kind of general personally fights while leaving their soldiers behind?
If something happened to you while we were stuck here, wouldn't that be awful? We're eager to see more worlds with you.
Otherwise, how would we ever endure such a long life?"
Coco and Miranda chimed in with their hands on their hips: "Exactly, exactly! We can help you in battle too, Master."
Tolle was moved, though also helpless. Shaking his head with a wry smile, he said:
"All right, you win. I can't argue with you. Next time I go into battle, I'll definitely take you with me."
Savior Gundam
B+ Class Mobile Suit
Terrain Adaptability: Sea B / Land A / Air A / Space A
Fixed Armaments: 20mm Vulcan guns ×2 (head); Chaos Beam Boomerangs ×2; 76mm cannons ×2 (MA mode); Beam Sabers ×2; High-Energy Beam Rifle ×1; Anti-Beam Shield ×1.
Backpack Weapons: Plasma Convergent Beam Cannons ×2; Beam Cannons ×2; Beam Sabers ×2 (integrated into the plasma convergent cannons).
Special Equipment: Chaos Backpack Unit; Close Combat Sensors; Mirage Colloid System; Advanced Deuterion Nuclear Reactor; Anti-Neutron Jammer; PS Armor; Reactionary Wings; Energy Defense Field; Gundanium Alloy.
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